1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer, a printing method, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a receipt is printed in a point of sales (POS) register or the like, an image such as a watermark may be printed on the receipt. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-133778 describes a technology in which an image is previously registered in a printer, and watermark printing is performed continuously at the time of printing so that the image is superimposed on a printing portion between a predetermined keyword (character string) and another predetermined keyword.
In a printer according to the related art, when characters and an image previously registered in a printer are printed so as to be superimposed on one another, only one kind of image can be printed.
It is also possible that a plurality of images are stored in a host computer and an image is selected appropriately and transferred from the host computer to a printer to be printed. However, with this method, it is necessary that image data having a large data amount be transferred to the printer every time printing is performed, which takes a long period of time for data transfer.
Further, with a method in which a host computer creates raster print data of an entire printing range containing characters and an image and transmits the raster print data to a printer, the data of a blank portion becomes large, which requires an even longer period of time for data transfer.